


Spiders Don't Have Ring-Fingers

by punk_rock_asaurus265



Series: 44 Short Stories From Prompts [1]
Category: Prompts - Fandom, Short Stories - Fandom
Genre: Other, Rings, fear of spiders, sinister stranger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-02
Updated: 2014-08-02
Packaged: 2018-02-11 10:23:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2064489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punk_rock_asaurus265/pseuds/punk_rock_asaurus265
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A stolen priceless ring, a horrible fear of spiders, and a sinister stranger.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Spiders Don't Have Ring-Fingers

**Author's Note:**

> The first prompt: A stolen ring, a fear of spiders, a sinister stranger.

The tell-tale pitter-patter of tiny paws on the wood floor told Anna that her tabby cat, Jingles, was finally awake. "Lazy cat," She spoke in her groggy morning voice as she pushed herself out of her semi-comfortable position. Anna scratched the back of her neck; trying to get the kinks out from her night after falling asleep on the couch once again. She shook out her flame-red hair and stood, stretching as Jingles made his way to his food bowl.

 

The summer air carried a chill and flowed through the window cracks in Anna's apartment; reminding her that she only had a few more weeks of freedom before classes at the university began once again. As Anna poured the cat food into Jingles' bowl, she spotted something crawling along the window sill. "Ah!" She shrieked, and jumped back behind the coffee table. Jingles had finished his food and was crouched, ready to attack the spider that had made a small web across the bottom window pane. Anna kept her eyes shut until Jingles had successfully mangled the tiny arachnid. Pleased with himself, he began to like his paws clean as his owner stood and shuddered. "Saved me again, Jingles,"She smiled, eyes bright with love for her tiny friend.

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Afternoon had spread across the busy New York streets, where Anna was pedaling hard to get back home from the store. Her backpack of groceries weighed down on her,  and Jingles rested in the basket at her handlebars. When she reached the top of the hill, her left eye was blinded. "Argh!" She grunted, looking for the source of the pain. She covered the gold ring that her mother had given her before she passed, realizing that it had shone the bright light of the sun into her eyes. She giggled at her own silliness and pedaled on for home.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Anna reached her apartment, she heard a strange noise coming from next door. She looked to Jingles, who was busy licking himself. Anna rolled her eyes at the silly cat and walked out of her door, peering around the corner to see the apartment that the noises were emitting from. She scrunched up her face, but walked toward the next door over anyway.

 

She knocked and waited, hoping it was just some television blaring or something. But a man answered the door, in a strange bright purple suit. His smile seemed a bit too fake, and his eyes a bit too yellow to seem normal. "Hello, neighbor," He greeted, offering his hand out to Anna stiffly. "You must be Anna of apartment 412," He cocked his head. "What red hair you have..." He spoke softly, droning out his words as if not sure if he was using them correctly. Anna took his hand and shook it, noticing the clamminess. She let go, but the stranger kept his hand extended. "My name is Paul," He said as if he had practiced.

 

She gave him a strange look, but tried not to seem shocked about his strangeness. "Well, you seem to already know me," She laughed, but the man just stayed silent and cocked his head at her;looking confused. "I am Paul," He said once again. She stepped back. "O-kay," She drew out the 'o' and then turned to leave. Paul slammed his door closed, and after a few moments, the noises continued.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anna woke up on the couch again, but this time she was soaked in cold sweat. She gasped for air as if she'd been drowning, and her eyes flicked around the room. _Just another nightmare,_ She thought, though it seemed strange to her that ever since she'd met Paul the creep, she'd been having nightmares from her childhood all over again.

 

Anna had always had a terrible fear of spiders. She never knew why, but the tiny legs and the beady eyes just gave her the creeps! Plus, they were like little vampires who suck out flies' blood! That's why she had gotten Jingles; to protect her from the little beasts.

 

She thought she had gotten over her fear ages ago; before she'd moved to go to college! But it seemed to be coming back, and a hundred times worse! This nightmare in particular had Paul's face on a spider! How strange!

 

Anna shook it off and got up, yawning. She looked at her watch and noticed that it was only 5 AM. Jingles was still asleep on the foot of the couch, purring softly. Anna smiled at her little friend and went to go make some breakfast.

 

As she was stirring her pancake mix, she noticed that her beloved ring was missing! She never went anywhere without it! It was her mother's wedding ring, and after her parents both passed in a car accident when she was young, it was all she had left of them. _I have to find it!_ Her mind screamed, thoughts racing. _I bet I just dropped it somewhere,_ She tried calming herself down. _I just have to search the apartment._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Well, searching the apartment wasn't as easy as Anna had first thought. Jingles still wasn't awake, and it was already noon by the time Anna had finished looking and was getting ready to wake him up.

 

Anna tried to walk over slowly, tip-toeing across the floor. But, Jingles jumped up, awake before Anna had even reached the couch! He seemed to be in a state of emergency, and Anna noticed right away when he leaped down from his spot immediately. His nose clung to the floor; like a dog sniffing for a treat.

 

Anna followed him, since he was acting so weird. Jingles then led his owner to the door and jumped up; trying to reach the locked knob. "Jingles, what's wrong? C'mon, I have to find my ring!" She stuck her hand out to him, pointing at the pale circle around her ring-finger where the gold ring usually was. Jingles sniffed her hand, then turned back to the door and jumped up again, scratching at the handle. Anna rolled her eyes and opened the door to the hall, the lights flickering above them.

 

Jingles stuck his tail up straight and his head straight forward, padding toward Paul's apartment. The noises from behind his closed door seemed to have been getting louder. _That's probably why_ _Jingles is all worked-up,_ She decided. _I'll just tell Paul to keep it down._

 

So, cat in hand, Anna knocked once on the door, and it creaked open. As soon as the door was open, light flooded in from the hall, illuminating some things and giving shadows to others. She tip-toed in and began calling, eyes wide with fear of what might be lurking in the eerie darkness of the apartment. "Paul-. Oh Pa-ul," Anna called. She was soon accompanied by her cats howling as he struggled to be released from his owner's grasp.

 

Jingles jumped lightly to the floor and darted away into the dark. Anna gulped and tried to see him through the shadows. Finally, she saw some yellow eyes at the back of the room. She ran to them and embraced the furry creature. "Man, Jingles, you scared me!" She said, holding the animal. But no 'meow' or 'purr' came from the body as it stood to tower above her.

 

And there she saw, in all of his creepy-tallness, was Paul's face on a huge spider body, her ring around one of his spindly legs. Anna screamed, and Jingles leaped over her, claws unsheathed. He scratched the huge being all over, letting black blood drip onto the floor.

 

Anna fell to the ground, backing against the wall as she tried to regain her breath. "Spider!!!" She shrieked, the fear of her lifetime finally rearing it's ugly head to her. But she shook her head, blinking away tears of fear. "No, you stupid bug. You have my ring!" She stood up, a new surge of energy flowing through her body. Jingles had clawed the monster's eyes shut, and Anna was kicking it's weak legs.

 

Finally, Paul fell to the ground, and Anna grabbed her ring. She put it back where it belonged, and then scooped up her beloved cat. "You saved me again, Jingles. And I've faced my fear!"

**Author's Note:**

> The moral of the story is to face your fears. And maybe get a cat.


End file.
